J.T. Miller may stand 6-foot-1 and weigh nearly 220 pounds, but for one night this week the Rangers captain leaned all the way into Tinker Bell.
At the team’s annual Halloween party earlier in the week, Miller showed up dressed as the Disney character while his wife Natalie went as Peter Pan. The setup fit a running theme in their household.
“It was a lot of fun,” Miller said Friday after the Rangers got back on the ice following two days off. “My wife picks out partner costumes where I’m the woman and she’s the guy … and this year I was Tinker Bell and she was Peter Pan.
“I’m sure there are [pictures]. I didn’t take any, but I’m sure there are some out there.”
The 33-year-old said the night wasn’t just about costumes. With the Rangers in the middle of a rough stretch, he saw the gathering as a chance for everybody to breathe a little.
“I just think it makes the group closer,” Miller said about the team get together.
That mattered, too, because the timing lined up with a needed reset. The Rangers had just fallen 6-3 to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, and after that loss they were one of only two teams to have already played 14 games. They entered a five-day break with a three-game losing streak and a 1-4-1 mark over their last six.
“I think this was a great time to have [a get together], plenty of time between games, some days off in there,” Miller explained. “A little, down, I would say, with our record the last couple of weeks, so I think it was good to have a little fun and get away from it, re-energize, and it makes you excited to come to work on days like today.
We all had a lot of fun as group with the wives and girlfriends. It was a great time.”
The party drew plenty of creativity. Defenseman Sean Durzi said one couple came dressed as the Statue of Liberty and a tourist.
As for the top costume in the room, Miller had his own pick.
“I think Scotty Morrow won,” Miller offered. “His was really good. I don’t want to say what he was, but he did great.”
The Rangers are set to practice again Saturday before returning to game action Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden.
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